


Vienna

by magicianparrish



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/M, I tried to make it accurate as possible, Mortal AU, but I've never been to Vienna so..., this was the first story I've ever completed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-21
Updated: 2015-04-21
Packaged: 2018-03-25 04:35:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3796888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magicianparrish/pseuds/magicianparrish
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Percy met the blonde girl from Vienna, his entire life changed. He has always been the type of person to work hard and play later. He has always been so focused on the destination in life that he never looked around at all the stops along the way. The blonde girl had opened his eyes to the big, beautiful world out there and he lost her. Now all he wants to do is find her again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Vienna

**Author's Note:**

> So this was the first story that I posted up on fanfic, but decided to bring it on over here as well. I tried to make the places accurate as possible, I did a lot of research on it, but alas I don't live in Vienna, Austria therefore I don't think I did it justice. And the story is based off of the song Vienna by Billy Joel because I love that song, and Billy Joel. Enjoy!

* * *

 

_Slow down you crazy child,_

_you’re so ambitious for a juvenile_

_But then if you’re so smart tell me,_

_Why are you still so afraid? (mmmmm)_

* * *

 

Percy never realized how much a childhood really means to a person until it was almost too late. He never recognized that being a child where it was all just fun and play was something to cherish. Once he grew out of adolescence and into his teenage years, he forgot the joys of just having to play all the time. It was all just work, work and more work for the rest of your life. There was little time to play.

Percy was just too busy to realize and recognize that factor.

He had always been an ambitious child. It was just him and his mother for most of his entire life. He knew that his mother, Sally Jackson only wanted the best for him. And he saw that from the very beginning. Her ambition was what sparked his too. Percy was burdened with ADHD and Dyslexia as a child which posed as obstacles standing in his way. At first, he was so angry and frustrated by it. He could never sit still and got distracted easily over everything. Dyslexia made the words fly all over the pages and flip letters and numbers around to confuse him. His mother was as close to a saint as you could get. She never once got angry when he threw frustrated temper tantrums. She’d just gently sooth him and help him overcome this difficulty. As he got older he realized that throwing a fit wouldn’t do him any good. Percy met some counselors at school who told him some techniques that could help make his disabilities not be so debilitating any more for him.

It’s been hard work for most of his life. Sure, he had friends but his grades and getting into a good college and a good education was way more important than his social life. The time he realized that only working is a bad thing, came in the form a teenage girl from Vienna.

* * *

 

_Where’s the fire, what’s the hurry about?_

_You better cool it off before you burn it out_

_You got so much to do and only_

_So many hours in a day (ay)_

* * *

 

It was back in the summer before junior year of high school. His mother had somehow won a trip to Vienna, Austria and she was beyond ecstatic. Percy, not as much. Sure going to a place in Europe was awesome, but he had school work that needed to be complete and he wanted to schedule college tours that summer. Junior year was the most important year of his life. Being whisked away to Austria for a few weeks wasn’t that great in Percy’s mind. His mother begged Percy to come along with her. And Percy couldn’t say no to his mother’s begging face. He couldn’t say no to her ever actually. She’d done so much for him, so he decided he’d start paying her back for it.

She had married a man named Paul Blofis a few months prior to the trip. She had kept her last name, but she was the happiest Percy had ever seen her. He was all for the marriage. He really liked Paul, even though he was his english teacher in sophomore year. Paul had the guts to ask Percy for permission first, and Percy respected the hell out of that. If his mother was happy, then Percy was too.

His mother had spent the weeks after planning every single aspect of the three week trip to Vienna. She was always on her computer looking up things that could be interesting there.  She always mentioned something about the Habsburgs.

She’d ask: “Percy why is the name Habsburg everywhere?”

Percy would respond about how that was the royal family that ruled over Austria for centuries. They were mentioned briefly during global studies last year, and he was taking AP Euro this year so he was brushing up on basic history over there. He had to read about them for the assignment for that class. Percy’s main worry though was getting dragged to see an Austrian opera with his mother. Even though Percy was able to contain his ADHD, he didn’t think he could for an opera. He never really payed attention to his mother’s ramblings, but what he picked up was there were a lot of museums to visit there.

When the first weekend in July came around, Paul had driven the both of them to JFK airport. He helped them carry their bags to the check in counter. Percy only had a drawstring bag for carry on. His mother and Paul had an emotional farewell with each other. Paul shook Percy’s hand telling him to take care of his mother. His tone was joking though. Percy laughed and made that promise to Paul.

His mother was bouncing up and down in excitement while waiting in line to get through customs and security. Percy had brought all of his school work because he couldn’t just abandon the abundance of it he had to complete. Looking at his mother, he couldn’t help but feel happy too. It was both of their first time’s out of the country and going somewhere new and away from New York was exciting. But school work was always important. If there was free time in between their tours and stuff, he’d be doing school work. His mother had put a hand on his shoulder. It was warm and tan.

“Aren’t you just so excited Percy?” She asked in a jovial tone.

He looked up into her blue eyes that he loved so much. Her hair was put up in a ponytail. She was always smiling in front of Percy. He’d never seen a time when she didn’t smile around him. It was like she was the beacon of light in her life. In many ways, he was though. For the first sixteen years it was just him and Sally. They held each other afloat for all of those years. His mother worked so hard, and it was time she got a break.

“Ecstatic, because I going on an adventure with you,” Percy responded with a smile.

His mother cooed and then gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Percy couldn’t even blush in front of the crowds. He even bent down so it would be easier for her to kiss his cheek. People called him a momma’s boy and he embraced that name with ease. He would never deny the love he has for his mother. He would give the whole world to her if that’s what made her happy. Besides school work, he worked hard to make his mother happy and proud of him.

It took almost close to an hour to get through customs because so many people were looking to go out of the country. Checking to see if passports are valid, if you have a green card to go there and if you’re the same person on your photo ID takes a while. Percy and his mother got through without any problem which he was thankful for.

Percy checked his watch and it had said 3:47 PM. The flight wasn’t to start boarding for another twenty minutes. In the waiting area, Percy and his mother took a seat. Percy opened up his drawstring bag and pulled out a book he was required to read for AP Lit. _Treasure Island_ , was probably one of the nicest books Percy had ever had the pleasure of reading. Usually he dreaded summer reading because it would be one of the most boring books to read. In his sophomore year he had to suffer through _Great Expectations_ for Honors English. Now that was horrible. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his mother rolling her eyes playfully while she read a book of her own. They both fell into a comfortable silence.

“Flight 593 to Vienna, Austria is now boarding for business class,” The PA announced.

Both Percy and his mother bookmarked their books and put them back in their bags. They got up, stretched before walking over to the kiosk with their tickets in hand. The woman who had her hair up in a tight bun grabbed their tickets and scanned them. She had a smile on that almost seemed fake to Percy, but didn’t mention it.

“Thank you and enjoy your flight,” she said in farewell.

When they entered the plane, Percy went to go find their seats. He looked down at his ticket that said they were in row twenty seven on the right. He kept walking back until he reached where he and his mother would be sitting. Since he was a good foot taller than his mother, he opened up the carry on cabinet. She gave him her bags and he put them in and closed it. Percy allowed his mother in first and he followed after her. The little TV’s in front of them were showing muted ads and what the weather was in New York City and other major cities in the United States. If he kept watching them, he would fall asleep. So to keep that from happening he took out his book and continued to read. Percy had to write little notes on post-its to keep himself on track. He was halfway done and he promised himself he’d do the entire question packet after the book was finished.

After a few minutes his mother put her hand on his shoulder again. Percy bookmarked his place before looking over at his mother with a confused look on his face.

“What?”

She gave him a small smile. “You don’t have to do your school work every time we’re free. This is a vacation after all. And you have August to complete it too, sweetie,” she said softly.

He just looked into her blue eyes for a few seconds not saying anything. Then he sighed.

“I know, but I need to. I just need to get so much done, and it has to be really good because junior year is the most important one of my entire high school career-” he was cut off.

“I know sweetie, trust me, I know. I was a high schooler at one point too. But seriously, cut yourself some slack. It’ll be okay.”

Percy shook his head and had a smile on his face. “Okay. But I should finish Treasure Island first,” he compromised.

Sally smiled. “Okay sweetie.”

The flight attendants went over the standard procedure on what to do if there was an emergency. Percy didn’t really like flying all that much, but he could suck it up for a few hours. The pilot then came on and explained what time they’d be arriving there. The time zone difference really messed Percy up. They were six hours ahead of them and he couldn’t wrap his head around it. All he knew was that he was going to be super tired for the first few days of the trip.

When the plane took off, Percy hadn’t been expecting to be thrown against the back of his seat while the plane rose to altitudes thousands of feet over the ground. His ears popping also sucked too. That was the most difficult part of the entire flight. For the six hours he was on that plane, he just kept reading _Treasure Island_ until his body forced himself to sleep on the uncomfortable seats. He slept for the remaining two hours.

His mother had to shake him awake when they arrived. It was pitch black but he could see the outlines of the city in the distance. Vienna National Airport was way nicer than JFK or LaGuardia back at home. It just seemed, cleaner and more friendly. But Percy just figured that was because they were both located in New York and New Jersey. Not the friendliest of states; or the cleanest. All the signs were in German, with other languages in smaller print underneath. The people there were able to speak English, but it was kind of hard to understand with their accents. Percy didn’t mind though. By the time they got their luggage and hailed a cab, both Percy and Sally were about ready to pass out. Sally had learned the currency exchange of the Euro and the American Dollar. She paid the taxi driver and they both checked in to their hotel that came with the prize Sally had won.

The lady behind the desk seemed nice and asked how their flight was. His mother just replied politely with a smile. She would be smiling the entire trip Percy said to himself. When they went up to their room and opened the door, Percy all but ran in and threw himself on the bed in exhaustion. His mother just laughed and playfully smacked him telling him to get changed into pajamas. Percy was reluctant, but he did anyway because he could never deny an order from her. Both of them mutually agreed that they’d unpack tomorrow when they both woke up.

The next day they both woke up at around one in the afternoon. Neither of them felt guilty about it. The time zones were really screwing with the both of them. But his mother had then insisted they start unpacking sooner rather than later. Percy was too tired to put up an argument. They both assigned drawers for their clothes. Sally’s was the first one and Percy had the one right underneath. He took out his folded clothes and put them in neatly so they wouldn’t wrinkle. Percy didn’t want to do extra laundry or have his mom iron clothes out for him.

They were totally free that day. His mother had insisted that they go shopping around Vienna for the day but Percy wasn’t really feeling that. He didn’t want to tell her no straight to her face. But she could tell from the expression he wore therefore saving him the trouble. She rolled her eyes at him and smiled.

“You don’t have to come with me shopping Percy. You’re old enough to go on your own adventures. You can have yours and I’ll have mine. So you can go where you’d like and we’ll meet back up in a few hours. Sound good sweetie?”

Percy’s mother was literally a godsend. He hugged her so tightly she had to pat him and tell him to get off of her before she suffocated. He kissed her cheek.

“I love you so much,” he said.

She just rolled her blue eyes again and shoved him out the door with his green drawstring bag. Percy had walked aimlessly down the streets of Vienna trying to find a place where he could do his school work in peace. He was more specifically looking for a nice park to go to. After a while he came across a place called Stadtpark. When he walked in, he was greeted with open green lawns and a variety of plants and flowers that were pleasing to the eye. It was a wonder that left Percy speechless before he moved on to find a park bench. While walking through the paths he finally found one. He smiled and sat down. He was done with his AP Lit book so he started to answer the questions in the huge packet that was assigned to him. The questions were fairly easy to do. After that, he took out the other book that was required of him to read for AP Euro. The Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes was a book that Percy considered tedious to read and stupid almost. But he was forcing himself through the book because after that he had _Mein Kampf_ to read which he knew was going to be dreadful. Percy felt that any book by Adolf Hitler would be terribly dreadful.

Percy had felt someone sit next to him on the bench. He wasn’t used to that type of stuff because New Yorkers tended to just do their own and not bother anyone. He tried to ignore the other body that was next to him. His ADHD made him hyper aware of the person next to him though and he couldn’t just ignore them. With an annoyed sigh he bookmarked the book and looked up ready to glare. What he saw dissipated it immediately.

Staring straight at him was a girl, probably around his age. She had gray eyes that were outlined with eyeliner and she seemed to be reading right into his soul. Her curly blonde hair was down to her shoulders making it look like a halo was surrounding her. She had a white vneck tshirt and jeans on. It was the most casual outfit a person could be wearing.

“Beautiful day isn’t it?” she said suddenly. She had a slight accent but it was hard to pinpoint if you weren’t listening carefully.

Percy gave her a weird glance which made the girl smiled a little bit.

“Uh, yeah...sure.”

Her dark blonde eyebrows rose up on her forehead like she didn’t believe a word that came out of Percy’s mouth.

“You aren’t even looking,” she said. The blonde girl then grabbed his head and turned it slowly up towards the blue sky and then around looking at all the trees and flowers. Percy was too shocked to do anything.

“Now do it on your own. Look at everything around you. Isn’t it beautiful?”

Percy shook his head finally realizing what the blonde girl just did. She totally just invaded personal space.

“Whoa, why did you grab my head and twist it around? That’s like invasion of personal space. I don’t even know who you are!” Percy said.

The blonde didn’t look too offended with his outburst. She still had her eyebrows raised up. She stuck out her hand towards Percy.

“I’m Annabeth,” she introduced.

He hesitantly shook her hand. Annabeth had a small smile and was waiting for him to say his name back.

“Percy…” he said slowly.

Annabeth nodded her head once. “Well, now that we know each other, I want you to actually look around at your surroundings.”

“Why do you keep asking me to do that?” Percy questioned. She mentioned it like ten times in the span of three minutes.

“Because… you seem too invested in…” she looked over at the book Percy was reading, “The Leviathan. And judging by all the books and papers in your pack, I’d say you are always doing work. Look up at the things around once in a while. It’ll do you good.”

Percy felt weirded out by Annabeth. She literally came out of nowhere and was tried to tell him what was good for him. He was offended by it.

“Maybe that works for you, but work is way more important right now. I’m only here because my mother begged me to come.”

Her gray eyes looked almost sad when he had said that. “Well, that’s a shame. Austria is a beautiful place to visit and it doesn’t seem like you get out of America quite often.”

Percy reeled back from her. “How’d you know I’m American?”

She gave him a look like are you serious dude?  “It’s quite obvious Percy that you are not from Europe. My father is American, I know what one sounds like.”

She took out a piece of paper and stole his pen. Before Percy could protest she signalled him to shut up. Annabeth then shoved the piece of paper into his hands.

“I can give you a better tour than those stupid tour groups, and I can do it for free,” she said.

Annabeth then got up and started to walk away and down another path in the park. Percy was confused by the situation. He looked down at the piece of paper that said: _eigene numme_ r: +43 654-9833      

Percy put her number into his phone.

* * *

 

_But you know that when the truth is told_

_That you can get what you want_

_Or you can just get old_

_You're gonna kick off before you even get halfway through (Oooh)_

_When will you realize... Vienna waits for you?_

* * *

 

Percy couldn’t get his encounter with Annabeth out of his mind for hours. He tried to read but his mind just wouldn’t let him do it. Those words she spoke kept echoing and bouncing around. He sighed and put the book down. He actually started to look around at where he was. He was in Vienna, Austria. How often does one get to say they went there? All of his friends back home would be extremely jealous. The trees were bright green and full of life. Flora was everywhere in every color imaginable. The sky was blue and had no clouds in sight making it a really beautiful day.

Annabeth was right, Percy thought to himself.

He packed up his things and started down a path that would lead him into the unknown. Well, he had his phone and could easily use the GPS to get back to the hotel. So he wasn’t totally screwed. He had half a mind to call Annabeth to ask her to give him a tour of the park he was in. But he didn’t. The people there didn’t even pay any mind to Percy wandering lost through Stadtpark alone. It made him long to be back home in New York City.

By the time he got home, it was around dinner time. His mom was already in the hotel room when he had arrived. She was on her computer writing in her little blog that she started right before they headed out to Vienna. It was a hobby to keep Paul updated with the trip when she didn’t have time to call or skype him. Percy thought it was kind of cute that she was doing something like that.

When the door clicked shut, his mother looked over at Percy and beamed. She quickly finished typing something and shut the computer down. She stretched and walked over and hugged Percy. His mother was always one for showing affection whenever she got the chance to. She held him at an arms distance and had a look on her face that seemed to say tell me everything. Sometimes Percy wondered how she seemed to know everything that was going through his mind.

“Something happened! Tell me!” She exclaimed.

Percy just rolled his green eyes and gave a soft smile towards his mother.

“Seriously, how’d you know?” he asked.

Her blue eyes shined in mischief and she raised a brown eyebrow at her son.

“I am your mother. I know you better than you know yourself Percy,” she said in that motherly tone.

Percy couldn’t deny that. He confronted her whenever he had a problem to deal with. He’d be lying to himself if he said that he knew more about himself than his mother did. So with that he sighed.

“I met this girl today-” he started.

His mother squealed and cooed with joy cutting him off in the middle of his sentence.

“About time! Oh, what’s she like? Was she nice? Was she pretty?” she started rattling off.

Percy put a finger to his mother’s lips with a soft smile playing on his face. He should’ve expected that much from his mother.

“It’s not like that,” he started. Percy pursed his lips together and scrunched his nose.

“In fact, she was a little strange. She totally invaded my personal space.”

His mother had a look and she crossed her arms leaning all of her weight onto her right leg.

“Well, there is a reason you told me about her. Now why did you exactly? I want the real reason,” she softly demanded.

Percy started to scratch the back of his neck. It was a habit he picked up when he was feeling nervous or uneasy.

“She, uh well… gave me her number. She said that she could give us a tour of Vienna for free,” he managed to get out.

His mother’s blue eyes brightened and she clapped her hands in joy. Percy didn’t feel as nervous anymore.

“Oh, that’s wonderful Percy! Call her and accept that offer!”

“Do I have to right now?” Percy whined.

The glare that his mother gave him said he had no choice but to call up Annabeth right then and accept the generous offer she gave them. Percy grumbled the entire way out into the hallway. He took out his phone and looked for the contact that said Annabeth Chase. He hesitated for a good minute before he clicked the dial button. The first three rings were agonizing torture for Percy.

“ _Hallo dies Annabeth spricht_?” her voice said after she picked up.

There was a very distinct German accent that she held when she talked in her native language. Just hearing her speak German confused Percy because she spoke perfect English to him in the park.

“ _Hallo_?” she said again waiting for Percy to answer.  

Percy coughed into his phone. “Hi, Annabeth?” It was the most awkward phone call Percy had ever taken.

Annabeth was silent for a few seconds. “Percy right? Hi, what’s up?”

Percy was amazed at how she could switch languages with such ease. She was probably bilingual. Percy was always fascinated with people who could speak more than one language.

“Uh, I’d like to take you up on that tour offer,” Percy finally choked out.

“Oh! Okay, sounds great. I can meet up with you in Stadtpark at eight hundred hours. Sound good?”

Percy felt like an idiot for not knowing what eight hundred hours meant. He valued his intellect but he did not know military time.

“What’s eight hundred hours?” he asked shyly.

Annabeth gave him a light laugh over the phone. “It’s just eight AM. Don’t worry, I get asked that a lot by Americans. I sometimes have to remind my dad what it means too.”

Percy tried to make his laugh not sound too awkward over the phone. “Oh, well...uh, see you tomorrow I guess.”

“Yeah, see you tomorrow. Remember to look around you and not keep your head stuck in a book all day.”

Percy felt his face heat up a little bit and he was grateful that he was just talking over the phone and not to her face. He quickly hung up after that.

When he walked back into the room, his mother demanded what happened. He told her the details and she jotted it down on her calendar thing that she used to keep track of all of her plans and whatnot.

The two of them were feeling relatively lazy that night. They just went to the McDonald’s down the street and ate there. The jet lag was still hanging over their heads and therefore made them tired. The timezones were messing them up a little too. After they ate, they just returned back to their hotel rooms and went to bed early.

When Percy and his mother arrived at Stadtpark at eight, Percy already saw Annabeth sitting on a bench right near the entrance waiting for their arrival. She had sunglasses over her face because the sun was already shining brightly over Vienna. She had a white spaghetti strap tanktop on tucked into a long, flowing light blue skirt with white floral print on it. Her hair was let down and parted to the right side. Percy’s mother seemed to beam brightly at the young girl.

She all but ran up to Annabeth. Annabeth turned her head towards Sally and lifted up her sunglasses revealing her gray eyes outlined in eyeliner. Her lips were coated in a red lipstick and she smiled without showing her teeth. Percy walked up right behind his mother and smiled sheepishly towards Annabeth.

“Oh, you must be Annabeth,” Percy’s mother gushed. She turned around to Percy.

“Percy, how do you say hello in german again?”

Percy sighed jokingly. “ _Guten tag_ , mom.”

She snapped her fingers like she knew all along and turned back to Annabeth who had an amused smile playing on her lips.

“ _Guten tag_ Annabeth,” Percy’s mother greeted.

Annabeth stood up from the park bench. Percy then realized how tall she really was. Annabeth towered over his mother a few good inches. She then stuck her hand out and shook his mothers.

“Actually, since we speak Austrian german, it would be _Grüß Gott_. But the effort was there, and appreciated. And don’t worry, I speak english fine too so translation won’t be necessary.”

Annabeth then turned towards Percy and smiled at him. “You can say hello too. Try it like your brave mother did.”

She placed her hands behind her back and raised a dark blonde eyebrow at Percy. She still had that little smile placed.

Percy really didn’t want to try and speak Austrian german in front of Annabeth and his mother. Linguistics were never Percy’s strong suit. He coughed awkwardly.

“Uh, _gruun got_ , Annabeth,” he choked out.

Annabeth gave a light laugh at his attempt. She placed a soft hand on his shoulder and smiled.

“It’s pronounced _gruus gott_ , but nice attempt. German isn’t the easiest language.”

She then turned back to his mother who was smiling at the entire exchange.

“Well, let’s get started shall we?”

Sally nodded eagerly and Annabeth walked in front of them. She then came over to Percy and nudged him and winked before following Annabeth’s lead. Percy groaned and put his head in his hands while walking through the park.

Annabeth really knew what she was talking about. She would go past every monument and they would stop. His mother would take a dozen pictures from different angles and Annabeth explained the significance of the person represented. There were so many of them in Stadtpark.

“Okay, this one right here is of Franz Lehár. He was a famous composer during the World War Two era. He mostly wrote operettas and actually Hitler enjoyed listening to Lehár. There’s a street right in Vienna named after him. We’ll probably see that later on in the day.”

Annabeth would go on and on about the person. Percy was really impressed with her vast knowledge of every important person from Austria. He made a mental note to remember them for AP Euro.

“Do you guys have euros on you?” Annabeth asked as they left Stadtpark.

His mother went into her purse and looked for the money. She looked up at Annabeth and nodded.

“Good. The place we’re going next has a little admission fee. Nothing too expensive though.”

The three of them had walked across the streets of Vienna for a good twenty minutes. Occasionally Annabeth would put some comments on certain places in the city that were worth mentioning. His mother kept whispering how amazing Annabeth was in his ear. Percy would agree with her.

They made a couple of turns and then before them was a huge palace. It was almost overwhelming to look at. Percy blinked a couple of times to see if he was seeing it correctly. Annabeth just smiled at their reactions.

“That was my reaction when I first saw it too,” she put in.

Annabeth then spread her arms out wide and smiled at Percy and Sally.

“Welcome to Schönbrunn Palace. This is the main attraction here at Vienna. It really is something right?”

Sally let out a sigh. “Wow. You don’t have stuff like this in New York City.”

Annabeth let out a laugh. “Oh I’m sure you don’t. The only place I know of with something as breathtaking as this is Versailles in France.”

“Come along. The admission isn’t too much. Then I’ll show you around.”

After they had paid to get in, Percy was even more amazed. The long cobblestone road that led to the entrance was wider than any street he’d ever seen in his entire life. Annabeth was still in front leading the way for them.

“This palace was built by Maximilian II, back when this was the Holy Roman Empire. Construction started in the year 1569. It was used mostly as a hunting area. Eleonora Gonzaga, the widow of Frederick II, had built the Kattenburg mansion. The first use of the term Schönbrunn came around this time. The palace you see right in front of you, was redone during the reign of Maria Theresa during the eighteenth century. This palace is used for important meetings between diplomats. One for example, was between Soviet Union leader Nikita Khrushchev and your president, John Kennedy. There are 1,441 rooms inside this palace in a rococo style.”

Annabeth turned around and smiled. “Any questions?”

Percy raised his hand. “Could you repeat that?”

His mother smacked him in the arm and scolded him. “How did you not listen to that?”

He looked at his mother. “I did! She just went too fast!”

Sally turned to Annabeth. “I’m sorry sweetie. My son can be a doofus sometimes, no matter how smart he is.”

“That’s okay Mrs. Jackson. I’ll be happy to repeat it for you.”

And she did. Annabeth said all of the information in a slower manner and Percy was able to keep track of all the information she was throwing his way.

“Once again, any questions?”

Sally raised her hand. “What is rococo?”

“Rococo is a late eighteenth century art style that went against classical ones that were all about symmetry, grandeur and strict style of the baroque art. Baroque was a religious form of art that was busy but showed religion in it’s art. Rococo is busy like baroque, but has no religious affiliation.”

“Oh, okay,” his mother said in reply. Percy didn’t think she fully understood the whole concept, but understood enough of it.

Annabeth started walking more again and she gave a tour of the entire palace and the gardens. They were there for hours. Percy was so interested in what he was seeing that he didn’t want to ever leave. Percy, for the first time in years didn’t want to go back and do work. He just wanted to tour around Vienna forever with Annabeth and his mother.

By the time they were done with the tour of Schönbrunn, the sun was already starting to set over the sky. Annabeth seemed very pleased with herself.

“So, how’d I do?” she asked.

His mother started to clap and she hugged Annabeth tightly. Annabeth didn’t find this weird and hugged her back with ease. She had a big smile stretched across her face.

“You did amazing! I think it was better than any other tour in Vienna,” his mother praised.

_“Danke_ Mrs. Jackson. I had a lot of fun giving you two a tour of my hometown. It really was a pleasure.”  

Annabeth then spun her satchel around and started to dig into it. Her blonde eyebrows scrunched together and her nose, which was splattered with freckles scrunched along with it. She finally grabbed a piece of paper with a triumphant smile.

“I printed out a map of Vienna and all the places to visit. I marked them with a red dot. The key is on the back. Also, have a map of Hungary, Italy and Germany. You can always do day trips there. I actually, suggest you do that.”

She handed the piece of paper to Percy’s mother who looked like she wanted to cry. She looked over the pieces of paper before starring Annabeth in the eye.

“Thank you so much Annabeth. You’ve made this trip even more special than I ever thought.”

“No thank you. You gave me something to do today and it was totally different from anything I’ve done before. If there’s one thing I love, it’s doing new things and new adventures. And you two, Mrs. Jackson and Percy, from New York, gave me a new adventure that was different from everyday life.”

Annabeth turned to Percy. Her gray eyes were brightly shining and she had a look of calmness on her.

“If you’re not doing anything tomorrow Percy, would you like to hang out?”

Percy’s first thought was, did she just ask me out on a date? He felt like a deer caught in headlights. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see his mother egging him on to say yes to Annabeth.

“Uh, sure. I’d love to hang out.”

She gave him a big smile. “Awesome. Just text me your address and I’ll meet you there at twelve hundred. Sound good?”

“Uh yeah.”

Percy always felt like an idiot around Annabeth and it annoyed him to the ends of the earth.

“Well, _servus_ Jacksons.” She then put her hand to her face and mocked whispered.

“That means goodbye.”

With that she waved and walked east back into the streets of Vienna.

__

* * *

 

_Slow down you're doing fine_

_You can't be everything you want to be before your time_

_Although it's so romantic on the borderline tonight (tonight)_

* * *

 

Percy’s mother was fussing over his appearance for the last two hours. He had his so called “date” with Annabeth in a few minutes and Sally had wanted him to look perfect for her. He tried to argue that she wouldn’t really care, but his mother wouldn’t have it. She kept drilling for him to remember his manners. Like holding the door for her, or taking out her seat if they went out to lunch. Also, compliments; he had to give a lot of compliments to her. She also chided that he should act less awkward around her. She told him to make sure he can form complete sentences around her.

“You study so hard, make sure you use that big brain of yours to make real conversation without stuttering through your sentences.”

He just swatted his mother’s hand away and told him he was ready. After a while of him insisting she finally backed off. She gave him money for wherever they go and literally pushed him out the door. When he walked into the lobby, he saw Annabeth sitting on one of the seats reading a magazine in german. He walked up to her and tapped her shoulder.

She closed the magazine and looked up at him. She was wearing a blue raglan tshirt with cutoff jean shorts. Her eyes were lined with her signature eyeliner and she seemed to be more casual than yesterday.

“ _Gruus gott,_ Annabeth,” he greeted with a smile.

Her gray eyes seemed to light up and she gave a light laugh at him.

“Quick learner are you Percy? But yes, _gruus gott_ back at you.”

She gave him a quick hug which didn’t seem awkward anymore. He’s only known her for around two days and yet he warmed up to her quickly. He hugged her back.

“So, where should we go?” she asked.

“You’re the one who knows Vienna. You show me around and suggest where to go,” Percy retorted.

Annabeth lightly punched him in the shoulder. “Fair enough. I’ll take you to my favorite restaurant for lunch.”

She took his hand and dragged him out of the hotel. He had absolutely no idea where she was taking him, but he trusted her. She gave him and his mother a great tour of Vienna yesterday, he figured she was worthy of his trust. Plus, Austrians aren’t that violent nowadays anyway right? he thought. He was being dragged through crowds that would just grumble in german and continue on their way. Percy wanted to apologize to them, but he had no idea how to. They probably wouldn’t care anyway.

Finally Annabeth came to a halt in front of a set of steps that led into a restaurant. The name was Gasthaus Elsner. Annabeth turned around and had a look of excitement written all over her face.

“You’re going to love it here,” she guaranteed.

Percy tried to read off the menu quickly outside, but with his dyslexia and the fact it was in a foreign language made it impossible for him to get a quick glimpse. Annabeth opened the door and dragged him into the foyer.

The maître d’ greeted Annabeth with a warm welcome.

_“Ah servus Annabeth! Wie kann ich ihnen helfen?_ ” he asked with a smile.

She just responded in german with a cheerful tone. Percy felt a little awkward between the exchange because he had no idea what they were saying to each other. For all he knew, they could be making fun of him and he would never know. The maître d grabbed some menus and brought Percy and Annabeth to a table towards the back of the restaurant.

Once they sat down Annabeth gave a big smile to Percy.

“Sorry if that was a little awkward for you. We weren’t talking about you so you don’t have to worry,” she said jokingly.

Percy just laughed back. “Well now my main worry has been abolished.”

He looked down at the menu and saw he couldn’t really tell what anything was. So Annabeth translated and described everything on the menu to him. She even told her favorite food here. Percy was excited to try new food. He’d never had Austrian cuisine before in his life. But Annabeth swore on her life that the food there was amazing.

“So, how do you like Vienna so far?” she asked.

“It’s amazing. It’s so different from New York City. America is so different from Europe it’s almost like living on a different planet.”

“What’s New York City like? I’ve only seen pictures, but now that I you’re here I can hear right from a main source.”

Percy felt his entire face light up with excitement. He loved talking about his hometown. Sitting there with Annabeth, he didn’t have to hold back any information because she had no idea what living in the Big Apple meant. America was just as foreign to her as Europe was to him. Her gray eyes never left his for a single moment. She seemed so fascinated in what he had to say.

“Wow, it is very different from Vienna. I can’t imagine living in a place like that honestly.”

Percy took a sip of his coke and shrugged his shoulders. “You get used to it after a while I guess. It’s the only place I know. This is the first time I’ve been out of New York in my entire sixteen years.”

“That’s what I like about living in Europe. You can take side trips to other countries for a weekend. I’ve been to France and Germany because the borders are close to one another. Your states are so big that it takes hours to get from one end to the other. I can’t imagine living like that.”

“Would you ever consider going to America? You are american right?”

Annabeth held up a finger signalling him to shush. She shook her head no.

“I am not American. I am Austrian. Just clearing that up. I was born and raised right here in Vienna, Austria. My father and my mother are American. They were born in America and raised there. I was not. I am from American descent.”

Percy didn’t say anything to his mini scolding from Annabeth. He was too shocked to say anything back.

“Your last name is Jackson right?” she questioned.

Percy just nodded yes.

“Exactly. Jackson is a surname from somewhere, I’d say from the United Kingdom. Your looks though, you look a little desi to me. Meaning that you are descendents from the United Kingdom and somewhere in the mediterranean or Middle Eastish. You were born and raised in New York City though. You are American with those roots from Europe. I am Austrian with roots from America. Do you see the difference?”  

Percy had never thought about it like that before. Being with Annabeth was opening his eyes to new perspectives of people. He felt extremely close minded before coming to Vienna. He was starting to thank his mom for begging him to come along for the trip.

“Uh, wow. I never thought of it that way before,” Percy finally said.

Annabeth just gave him a small smile. “From the first time I saw you huddled over that book, I knew I had to open your eyes to the world that surrounded you. Am I succeeding?”

Percy just gave a short laugh. “Yeah, definitely succeeding in that.”

“I’m glad. To answer your question before I went into my enlightening rant, maybe one day I’ll visit America. I don’t really have a big desire though. My father didn’t like it there all that much. Which is why we’re living here.”

“Why Vienna though?” Percy asked. He was generally curious about Annabeth and her life here in Vienna.

She just shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t really know why my dad decided to come to Vienna. I just assumed it was because my dad’s a professor in war history. He just loves the wars that happened here in Europe. I don’t know the answer to that question though.”  

The conversation ended when the food came to their table. Annabeth raised her glass of sprite in a mock toast to him trying Austrian food for the first time. He smiled and they clinked glasses and took a sip of their sodas respectively. As soon as he took the first bite, he knew that Austrian food was delicious. Annabeth laughed while eating hers. The face Percy made must’ve been really obvious.

“Did you think I’d mislead you Percy?”

He just shook his head while eating the rest of his wiener schnitzel. Annabeth just watched him eat with amusement. Percy liked to think that she took pride in proving that Austrian food was the best thing on the planet. It felt like they had been in there for hours just talking about each other and learning new things.

The reality was that it was only three in the afternoon. Annabeth insisted she pay for the meal after a little argument about the check.

“I get employee discount. I will pay,” she said finalizing the debate.

And that’s when he learned that Annabeth was a waitress at her favorite restaurant. And also when he learned that she might be a little bias towards Austrian restaurants in Vienna. But he didn’t say anything to her.

She then took him out for ice cream down the street for dessert. It was a little place filled with the sweet aroma of ice cream and cookies. The store was painted with light pastel colors and there were kids sitting with their families. The sight made Percy feel happier.

There was a blonde boy behind the counter with bright blue eyes. He had a little scar on his lip and he looked like he couldn’t wait to get out of there.

“ _Severus Jason!_ ” Annabeth greeted happily.

He had picked up that there was a formal and informal way of greeting people. She was using the informal way. Jason’s eyes shot up from his phone and he smiled. He grabbed Annabeth’s shoulders and started begging in German to her. All Annabeth did was shove him and jokingly scold him. Jason just gave her an annoyed look. She turned around and smiled at Percy.

“Percy, this is my best friend Jason,” she introduced.

And then she introduced Jason to Percy in German. Jason shook his hand and greeted him.

“Hey,” was all he said.

“Jason doesn’t really know much english. He’s been taking it as a second language for years now, but he still sucks at it.”

Jason complained to her in German and she just rolled her eyes at his childish ways.

“I do not show off,” she said while winking at Percy with a smile on her face.

Annabeth then proceeded to translate the menu of ice creams and all of their toppings to Percy. She ended up getting cookie dough with caramel on top with rainbow sprinkles. Percy got something called the cookie monster. It was dyed blue, which is why he got it. He didn’t really care what was in it. Jason scooped them into a cone for Percy and a cup for Annabeth. She once again paid which ended in another little argument. Jason was just laughing at the two of them. Annabeth hit him and told him to go back to work.

They both sat down at a table and ate their ice creams in silence for a few minutes.

“Sorry about Jason. If he spoke english better, he would’ve talked your ear off. He thought you were my boyfriend,” she said lightly.

Percy just shrugged while licking his ice cream. He didn’t mind that he had no idea what Jason was saying to Annabeth. She was at home, therefore she was allowed to talk to her friends that lived here with her. Percy would’ve done the same thing if the roles were switched and he was in Manhattan.

“I don’t mind. He seemed like a cool dude,” he said nonchalantly.

“He actually know’s english quite well. His sister lives out in California actually. He was just afraid he would sound stupid in front of an english native.”

“I don’t blame him. I take french, and I’d never talk french in front of someone in Paris. I’d probably sound like an idiot,” Percy admitted.

“It must be a universal guy thing then,” Annabeth said jokingly.

Percy was about to agree when he realized what she said. “Hey!” he exclaimed.

That made Annabeth laugh with ice cream in her mouth. She wiped the remains off her lips with the back of her hand.

“Sorry, bad joke.”

“Do you take any languages?”

“Well I already am fluent in German and English because of my dad, and just by living in Austria. But I’m learning Italian right now. I’m okay at it.”

“Say a sentence in italian,” Percy said suddenly.

Her blonde eyebrows scrunched together and she looked at Percy weirdly. After a few seconds she put on a thinking face.

“ _Italiano è la mia terza lingua_ ,” she stated.

“Okay, what does that mean?”

“It means, italian is my third language,” she translated, “say a sentence in french. It’s only fair you know.”

She leaned back in her chair with her arms crossed. She had a sly smirk on her face and her left eyebrow raised in challenge. Percy put on his thinking face trying to come up with a sentence.

“ _Je pense que tu es belle_ ,” Percy said in his horrible french accent.

He could see she was trying to hold in a laugh that was forming. After a few seconds she let it out.

“That was the worst french accent I’ve ever heard,” she managed to get out.

Percy wasn’t too offended because he knew it was true. It was a terrible french accent. He began to laugh with her.

“What did that mean anyway?” she asked when she calmed down.

Percy felt a blush starting to tint his cheeks. He realized that he had to share what he said to Annabeth. He scratched the back of his neck.

“I said that I think you’re beautiful.”

Annabeth’s face turned pink at after that statement too. She brushed a blonde curl behind her ear and looked down at her empty ice cream cup. She was biting her bottom lip when she looked back up at Percy. He felt just as embarrassed as Annabeth.

“I, uh… sorry. That was probably not the best thing to say on a first date,” Percy apologized.

She looked up with a confused expression on her face. “You would consider this a first date?”

Percy just stared at her for a few good seconds before he made his decision. He nodded yes. A small smile graced Annabeth’s face.

“Good, because so do I.”

Percy never felt that happy in his entire life.

When they finished eating their ice cream, they just walked through Vienna holding hands. They laughed and joked around like they’ve known each other their entire lives. Annabeth would point out all the birds by their name and scientific name. Percy would just roll his eyes jokingly but he secretly loved that she knew everything. He couldn’t believe he had only met her two days ago but had fallen so quickly for her.

Just like she said she’d do, Annabeth opened up Percy’s eyes and broadened his horizons for the first time since he was a little kid. He didn’t worry about work, he was playing around with Annabeth through Vienna. By the time they got back to Percy’s hotel the sun was just setting over the horizon.

Percy started to walk up the stairs when he turned around to face Annabeth. She had a big smile on her face that seemed to be contagious.

“I had a great time today Annabeth,” he started off.

She took a step towards him and hugged him tightly. “So did I.”

When she released, she looked right into his green eyes. Percy realized that he really meant it when he said she was beautiful.

“Would it be weird if I kissed you right now?” he whispered.

“Absolutely not,” she replied in the same tone.

That was when Percy leaned in and kissed Annabeth for the first time. It was short and sweet, but it was the best kiss Percy ever had. They both had goofy smiles on their faces afterwards.

“Thank you for today Percy. I’ll text you later I guess?”

Percy smiled down at Annabeth. “I count on it.”

Then Annabeth walked down the stairs and back into the streets of Vienna. Percy felt like he was in a euphoria like state. He just felt so happy and carefree that he practically just skipped down the hall and into his room.

When he opened the door, his mother had a knowing look on her face with her arms crossed.

“I knew it!” was all she said.

* * *

 

_Too bad, but it's the life you lead_

_You're so ahead of yourself that you forgot what you need_

_Though you can see when you're wrong_

_You know you can't always see when you're right (you're right)_

* * *

       

Percy texted Annabeth all night after that. His mother had gushed for hours about how she missed the first kiss between the two of them and how she knew that they were destined to be together. Percy had put a stop to that comment right away. He was not destined to be with Annabeth of all people. This wasn’t even a real relationship; it was a summer fling if anything. He’d only be there for three weeks before he’d return to New York probably to never see her face again. But he still enjoyed her company.

_From: Annabeth Chase_

_Got home fine… and thank you for my first kiss :)_

Percy smiled after reading the first text from Annabeth. He appreciated that she used real words and no abbreviations when texting him. When people used those stupid abbreviations, it just made it harder for Percy to decipher. His fingers flew across his keyboard.

_To: Annabeth Chase_

_Wow your first kiss? I’m honored. And I had a great time too Wise Girl ;)_

After he sent the message, he thought about what he had just said to Annabeth. He had called her a nickname even though it was never once mentioned before hand. He had a moment of worry that he said something stupid and wrong.

_From: Annabeth Chase_

_Wise Girl huh?... hmmm I like it, but it’s not as catchy as Seaweed Brain_

Percy laughed out loud, literally when he read the little nickname for him. He did admit that she was better at coming up with names than he was. She was a lot wittier than many girls Percy knew so he should’ve expected it.

_To: Annabeth Chase_

_I’m bored just staring at the ceiling fan go around. Let’s play twenty questions. I’ll go first. What hobbies do you do?_

Percy imagined Annabeth rolling her gray eyes at him but trying to figure out what to type back to him. The thought made Percy smile in anticipation.

_From: Annabeth Chase_

_Hmm… hobbies huh? Well, I guess I give tours now ;) not really. But for real, I do ballet. I wouldn’t call that a hobby though cause I’m a professional. I love, love, love architecture though and designing buildings. How about you Seaweed Brain?_

Percy’s green eyes bugged out when he first read the text message. He had to read it again just to make sure he was seeing correctly. Annabeth as a professional ballet dancer? He literally would’ve never guessed that in a million years. He wanted to see her dance at least once while he was in Vienna. The architecture thing, he could see much more clearly. Whenever they passed a historical building she’d give all of the background of it with explicit details that would leave anyone with their mouth agape.

_To: Annabeth Chase_

_Ballet? Holy crap… would’ve never thought. But now that I know I must see you dance at least once before I leave. My hobbies, well I don’t do much outside of all of my school work. I swim sometimes though?_

_From: Annabeth Chase_

_You can’t see it, but I have my bitch face glaring at you. Fine, tomorrow at twelve hundred I’m at my practice down the street. Come watch me dance._

Then a picture was sent right after of Annabeth glaring at him. It was scary to look at with those petrifying gray eyes, but all he could do was laugh at the ridiculousness of their conversation. The entire night was just spent texting back and forth until Annabeth passed out while texting. He only knew that because her last text of the night was incoherent jumble that she accidentally sent.

Percy woke up the next morning with the address to the dance studio on his phone. He looked at the time and saw that Annabeth had sent it at six am that morning. Percy figured she’d be an early riser. She just seemed like that type of person. Percy imagined her getting ready for the day and running around Vienna getting everything she needed to tackle the day. She seemed pretty popular with the teenagers that resided in Vienna.

Percy had taken his free time in doing nothing that day to finally catch up on the school work he’d been neglecting for the past few days. He felt like he had enough play for one year and had to finally get back to what was really important to him. He took out The Leviathan and continued to read and take notes.

Annabeth is a mere distraction to me, Percy thought. His time with her had given him a feeling of warmth and happiness, and he did enjoy that. But he couldn’t afford to have an abundance of it. He did say he only came to Vienna because his mother begged him to. By the time he had finally stopped reading, he looked down at his phone to see it was three in the afternoon.

Percy cursed out loud which resulted in a slight scowl from his mother. He apologized before running out the door and towards the dance studio Annabeth told him to visit. He had linked in the address to his GPS because he’d be lost without it. It took him exactly seven minutes to reach the studio. There were two big oak doors that must’ve led into something bigger on the inside. Just as he was about to touch the knob, the door flung open revealing a tired and irritated Annabeth.

Her hair was tied up in a high and tight ponytail and she had light makeup adoring her face. She was still in her ballet leotard and tights which hugged her every curve nicely Percy pointed out to himself. But she looked angry. When she saw him on the other side of the door, her gray eyes seemed to darken even more. She stormed right past him without even saying a word.

Percy ran out behind her to try and catch up with her. She was weaving her way through the crowds with ease though. Percy should’ve been accustomed to it, living in New York City and all, but he couldn’t.

“Annabeth wait!” He shouted after her.

She kept on moving briskly without turning her back towards him. Percy managed to break through the crowds and get a clear path towards her. The blonde hair was bouncing up and down with her sharp strides. He made a run for it and caught up to her. He gently put his hand on her shoulder. His touch made her stop and whip around with an angry glare directed towards him.

“ _Was?! Was willst du?_ ” she growled.

Percy knew he was in trouble when she wasn’t even speaking English with him. He touched the back of his neck and started rubbing against it.

“Sorry what?” he asked sheepishly.

Another growl was let out of her throat and she scowled even more at him. He realized that he never wanted to be on the receiving end of Annabeth’s wrath ever again.

“What do you want?” she said with anger.

“I just wanted to say sorry.”

She raised a dark blonde eyebrow at him and laughed humorlessly. It gave him chills and goosebumps on his skin.

“You know, I didn’t even have practice today. I made it today because you said you would be damned if you didn’t see me dance while you were here. Today was my only day off because I also have my job to attend to. So breaking your promise didn’t exactly earn brownie points with me.”  

Percy looked down at his feet. “Yeah I know and I’m-”

“Don’t say sorry if you don’t mean it Percy Jackson. I thought that maybe I was helping you by opening your horizons past work and books. And for these past few days I thought I was succeeding.”

He looked up with confusion written on his face.

“I know you were just doing the work that I had distracted you from. So I guess, I had only a temporary effect on you. I should’ve known that people can’t change easily. It’s just, I’ve seen too many people in my life just worry about their jobs and social status and not look at all at the things this world has given us access to. People today don’t appreciate what we have, and I just couldn’t stand to look at you Percy; you were just like them when I found you.

"It’s so damn easy to point out Americans in a crowd here. You have it so nice over there; the land of the free they call your country. But you don’t ever realize what you have until you see other places. All of that technology and liberties that surrounds you back home, I don’t have that same access. Computers are a foreign thing to me. I barely know what a cellphone is. You guys live across an entire ocean. You’ve always been isolated from Europe and the rest of the world. Don’t you just want to get away from that bubble you’ve been inside for your entire life and just explore what we have on this planet for us? What’s the point in living if you just waste it away just working like a slave and not looking up and around once in a while? I know that is not how I want to go about living my life.”

Percy was rendered speechless by her speech. Her face held so much emotion and passion that he didn’t even know how to respond. She had once again, made some very valid points that had amazed Percy into opening his green eyes just a little more. They just looked at each other for a few minutes.

“Well, enjoy the rest of your stay Percy Jackson,” she said with a deep sigh, “Vienna waits for you,” she whispered.

That was the last Percy Jackson saw Annabeth Chase.

* * *

 

_You got your passion, you got your pride_

_But don't you know that only fools are satisfied?_

_Dream on, but don't imagine they'll all come true (Oooh)_

_When will you realize... Vienna waits for you?_

* * *

 

Percy was walking in the middle of the streets of Manhattan when memories of that summer came flying back to him. The sensation felt like he got hit with a bag of bricks right in the face. He hadn’t thought about Vienna and Annabeth Chase in years. After she left him on the streets, he had immediately went back to his old ways of just work all the time and no play.

He was able to get into his top percentile when he graduated high school. He may not have been valedictorian or salutatorian, but he managed to get into Princeton which had to count for something. There must have been a subconscious influence Vienna and Annabeth Chase had on him though. For most of his life he was going to major in science and biology and become a great scientist. After Vienna though, his passions had taken another turn. He had loved the way Annabeth had described the historical landmarks of her hometown. He was in awe if he was honest with himself. That had switched his interests into history of Europe. Percy had majored in history of Europe and managed to get his bachelors in teaching while he was at it. Percy had always been ambitious.

Those thoughts made Percy find a local cafe and just sit down for a while. It has been nearly ten years since he went to Austria and met the unique Annabeth Chase. He took out his laptop and on a whim decided if he could find her anywhere on social media. Given, Percy wasn’t all into that type of stuff, he wanted to see if Annabeth was on there.

He first went onto Twitter. He typed in her name and he went through all of the users that came up hoping to find a familiar blonde hair, grey eyed girl. He had come up short with his results. As he kept up his search for the idyllic Austrian girl, his hope was slowly diminishing because it seemed that she was off of all social media. Percy kept his hands on his keyboard with the google search engine just staring blankly back at his face. Percy really, really wanted to find her. So as a last resort, he just typed in her name.

And he was awarded with a blog. Percy felt like he wanted to jump up and down and go hug the closest person in the cafe. Of course, he would never really do that, but that’s how happy he felt at that exact moment. When he clicked on the link, it was all in German. That’s how he knew that this blog belonged to the Annabeth Chase he once knew. Google had nicely asked him if he wanted the webpage translated into English. Percy never clicked on the accept button so fast.

The top of the page had the title of the blog: The Intrepid Journeys. In the top right corner of the page was a picture of Annabeth in mid laugh while being covered with different vibrant color powders. It was obviously a recent picture because she seemed much older and way more mature than Percy remembered. One of the links had an “about me” and Percy clicked on it right away.

It read: _Hello fellow readers,_

_My name is Annabeth Chase and I am twenty eight years old as of this year. I am an Austrian architect who was born in Vienna, Austria by American parents. I have a PhD in linguistics and math. I am fluent in German, English, Swahili, Italian, French, Welsh, Chinese and Arabic. The goal of this blog is to show the world of the magnificent things that happen within the continents we all inhabit. There are so many cultures that we don’t even know about, and I want to educate people about them in my travels. I have always been a traveler and a free spirit; I have always had an open mind and a thirst for knowledge that would give me adventures of a lifetime. I hope to share these adventures with all of you. I update daily, so you will always be updated._  

Percy had made a decision that he was going to sit in this little cafe and read every single entry that she has ever made on the blog. The first one was made four years ago. It showed different pictures in the different areas of France that she went to. Percy was impressed with the knowledge of the history she gave to her readers. Even though she wasn’t even a history major, she managed to get all the key points and dates down to a tee. Percy smiled because she was the same woman he had met ten years ago in Vienna.

Annabeth had traveled literally all over the world. It showed her in India (which is where the blog photo at the top came from), China, South Korea, Malaysia, the Yukon territories up in Canada, Mozambique, Kenya and a whole bunch of other countries Percy couldn’t even imagine going to in his lifetime. This blog had once again sparked that idea that Annabeth had planted into his mind all those years ago. Seeing what she was doing with her life made him think what  exciting things he’s done in the past ten years or so. Percy probably sat there for a few minutes with a extreme thinking face. But he came up blank. There was the time all of his college friends took him out on the town to do a pub crawl on his twenty first birthday. But even then, that wasn’t even that exciting. Seeing all these cultural experiences Annabeth was doing made him realize that he’d led a pretty boring life.

Annabeth had warned him all those years ago that leading a life where it was all work and no play was not a way to live. Percy had been so focused on destinations that he never stopped to look around at the detours and side trips that his life could’ve given to him, but he ignored. The truth of her words were finally starting to sink into Percy’s brain.

Percy scrolled down all the way to the post that she updated today. He wanted to know the most recent travels she went on.

_24/11/21_

_Hello readers!_

_I had just arrived in the United States today as it will be my last visit before I head back home to Vienna. I’ve had a great four years of travelling the world and experiencing new cultures and customs that had opened my eyes up the big, beautiful world we all live in. I had decided to go to my roots here in America as my final destination. As you all probably know, my father is from the United States but moved to Austria with my mother before she died. I landed in Richmond, Virginia which is where my father was born and raised. I had taken a tour of battle grounds from the American Civil War today, and went into where the famous Battle of Yorktown occurred during the American Revolution against the British Empire back in the eighteenth century. I will be honest, I didn’t give America a lot of credit before._

_I guess it was because I was born and raised around hundreds of years worth of rich history. European history has been around for two thousand years. Starting with the classical roots of Greeks and Romans, going into the Dark Ages of feudalism and strong religious influence, into the Renaissance and Enlightenment. So many wars and empires had flourished over here for centuries. America is just a babe in the eyes of a European; Only been around just over two centuries._

_But walking around, had shown me that I was wrong to just assume such things about the United States history. In fact, the rag tag Americans had sparked an age of revolutions over in Europe. Without the American Revolution, there would’ve been no French Revolution. America has it’s own deep, rich history that I was not fully aware of, until I drove up from the state of Virginia into the capital, Washington D.C. Seeing where their government and laws are made, and learning the history between every monument there had proved me wrong in my assumptions._

_If any Americans are reading this, I will apologize for my prejudices. I was wrong and I will never make any assumptions like that ever again. I will not visit any other big cities like New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, Houston because I have must go back home to Vienna after such a long journey from country to country. I will be back home tomorrow night and will conclude my intrepid journey right where I started from. So, from the deepest part of my heart, I thank you all for letting me share my travels with you and I hope they inspired you as much as they have inspired me._

_Servus freunde und sichere reise_

_Annabeth Chase_

Percy opened up another tab and looked up the next flight to Vienna.

* * *

_ And you know that when the truth is told _

_That you can get what you want or you can just get old_

_You're gonna kick off before you even get halfway through (oooh)_

_Why don't you realize... Vienna waits for you?_

* * *

 

Percy had always hated flying. He really has. But he had decided that he needed to see Annabeth Chase again. He realized that everything she has ever taught him had been correct. At the time he was just a stupid and naive sixteen year old who didn’t know any better. Annabeth was wise beyond her years. Percy was pretty sure she knew that from the very beginning. She never meant to try and impose her ways of thinking unto Percy; she was just trying to make him a better person. In the long run, she was absolutely right.

So as he sat in the uncomfortable seats of the airplane, he just kept reminiscing and replaying those moments when he was in Vienna with her and his mother. Percy had already called in sick to the school for tomorrow saying he had an emergency he had to attend to. As he scrolled through his contacts, he came across her number that she’d given to him all those years ago. It was a wonder that he still had it and never even realized it before hand.

For the entire six hour trip, he just read every single one of Annabeth’s post again so he could relive her eloquent writing about her experiences. He could read them over and over again forever. He loved her way of saying farewell to everyone until the next day. He had google translated it. She said goodbye and safe travels in german. For some reason, that wouldn’t translate on the page. Percy didn’t mind one bit. It reminded him of where she came from and how they had met on that fateful July day.

By the time he actually arrived again in Vienna National Airport, he was booking it down to the hotel he would be staying at until he reunited with Annabeth. It was actually the same hotel he had stayed at with his mother. He guessed that it was a subconscious decision for old times sake. It was around one AM when he checked into the hotel. Percy’s body was running on adrenaline and anxiety of this impromptu decision he had made to go across the Atlantic and into Austria.

That night, Percy only slept for three hours.

The next morning came too fast and he was anxious to meet Annabeth again. How would he even greet her? He couldn’t just go the causal way. It’s been too long and they didn’t exactly end on the right foot. But he couldn’t jump into her arms and beg for forgiveness either. That would be awkward for both parties. He had hours to think about it. She wouldn’t be arriving until later that night.

His ADHD had started to act up and make him restless. All those annoying tics he had as a kid started to show up. He was constantly tapping his fingers and feet on the floor to get rid of the energy that was consuming him. Percy realized that he needed to get out of the room and walk around.

He found himself walking through Stadtpark again. It just brought up memories that made Percy have a grimace. He had his hands in his pockets and since it was November, the leaves were falling off and onto the ground. They made a crunching noise under Percy’s sneakers. He had his hands in the pockets of his jackets and found himself just looking up at the blue sky and all of the reds, oranges and yellows of the leaves. People were strolling along like it was any normal day. Well, to all of those people it was. To Percy, it wasn’t.

He had hours to kill before Annabeth came back home. He took out his phone and looked up her blog to see if she updated anything. Percy was ecstatic when he realized she did. It was short and sweet. It told him that she’d be arriving at Vienna around six that night. Percy looked at the time and showed that it was already three o’clock. Meaning that she updated this hours ago. Percy felt so happy and relieved.

He practically ran home after that to go freshen up. Percy wanted to leave a good new impression on Annabeth upon their reunion that she had no idea about. When he got back to his hotel room, he immediately turned on the shower. He practically scrubbed his entire body raw. The shampoo and conditioner had to be all out one hundred percent. He must’ve rubbed his body with the soap a million times over until he was literally squeeking. Percy decided to not shave the thin beard that was growing nicely on his face. He was too fond of it to get rid of it.

If anyone could see Percy, they would’ve thought he was an insane person. He threw clothes around the room trying to find the perfect thing to wear. Nothing really decent came to Percy’s mind about his clothes. He only packed casual because it was a casual trip. After an hour agonizing over clothes, he just decided to slip on jeans, his sneakers, a red and black flannel with a black beanie. It was the most casual thing he had, and honestly it made him feel younger than he actually was. Well, he was only twenty six. That wasn’t too old. It was a definite screw it moment.

When he was finished, he brushed his teeth again quickly and threw some water on his face to mentally wake him up for the encounter. He grabbed his phone and room key before dashing out of the hotel and back to the streets. When he looked down at the time it said it was five thirty. Percy used his taxi hailing skills to use and grabbed a cab. The man didn’t know great English but understood Vienna National.

Percy was getting super anxious again. A million thoughts were running through his mind at warp speed. He couldn’t keep track of all of them. He had seen brief pictures of Annabeth, but she was usually covered in powder, or tribal paint and what not. He had not seen a clear picture of her face in ten years. He longed to see her face again.

When the driver pulled up he paid him the euros he had managed to get at the airport back in New York. He thanked the driver over and over again and stepped out. He was at the waiting area where people wait for their loved ones to pick them up, or hail a cab to their destinations. He knew Annabeth would be there in just a few minutes. Percy just watched all the people go in all different directions speaking all these languages that amazed Percy. He still knew a little French, but still sucked at it overall. Percy would say that he was as good as he was in high school. Never really improved. He remembered then that Annabeth had majored in the study of languages and was fluent in many of them. He recalled the time when they spoke italian and french together in the ice cream parlor. She seemed embarrassed that she didn’t know italian very well.

Now look at her. Knows some of the hardest languages known to man, Percy thought.

Percy bounced up and down on the balls of his feet in anticipation. He had his hands in the pockets of his jeans and was taking deep breaths in and out to calm himself down. He looked at his watch and it read 6:15. She would be out any minute.

The automatic doors next to Percy opened wide and by some divine intervention, Percy had managed to look right over at them. And out in all of her glory came Annabeth Chase.

She looked so different, yet the same. Annabeth had her hair still cut to her shoulders. The tips of them were dyed a turquoise color. She had her headphones in so she was oblivious to the world around her. Tattoos adorned her arms in an array of different colors and designs. When he looked back up to her face she saw that she had stretch earrings in that seemed to be made to look like bone. Piercings went up the side of her ear and she had a dragon cuff earring on her right ear. Annabeth had her nose pierced too. She was bobbing her head to the music and biting down on her lips that were covered in her famous red lipstick.

Percy thought she was even more beautiful than when he last saw her. Percy’s hands started to get clammy. But he knew it was now or never.

He started to make his way to her. She was still bobbing her head to the music and had no idea he was coming. When he was next to her, he lightly tapped her shoulder. Annabeth stood stiff and looked over at Percy quickly before looking forward. Then she did a double take and ripped out her headphones.

“Oh my god,” she said.

Those were her first words to him in over ten years. It made Percy smile. He met those gray eyes he loved for all those years.

“Hey Annabeth,” he greeted.

She wound up her headphones and put her ipod away in her backpack. She turned to face Percy head on. Annabeth had her arms crossed and a smile on her face.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

Percy just shrugged his shoulders and gave a coy smile to the beautiful, punkish girl in front of him.

“Came across your blog…” he started.

Her gray eyes seemed to brighten. “Oh! How’d you like it?”

“It was amazing. I read all of your posts on the flight here actually. It’s the reason why I knew you were coming home.”

She raised a dark blonde eyebrow at him in amusement.

“Any reason why you followed me all the way back to Vienna Percy?”

“Well, I realized just how right you were all those years ago when you tried to open my eyes up to the world. I realized how stupid I was for thinking that work was the most important thing in the world. I realized that my ideals of only finding destinations was not one to live by. I read your blog, and I remembered our three days together here all those years ago. How those events impacted me even though I didn’t want them to at the time. And well, now I’ve come back to you.”

Annabeth gave a big smile to Percy. It felt like they never had a rift in between them for ten years. She then went onto her tiptoes and gave him a kiss on the lips. Percy cupped her cheek and deepened it a little. When she released she had the biggest smile Percy had ever seen on her face.

“Vienna’s been waiting for you Percy,” she started, “ _willkommen haus_.”

Percy smiled because he knew that piece of german.

Welcome home. Percy was finally at home.

* * *

 

_When will you realize... Vienna waits for you?_

* * *

       

 

 

 


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